Kickstart My Heart: XRAY.FM

The little Portland-centric radio station that quite possibly could is almost a reality—it just needs a $40,000 assist.

It seems like Portland has been hearing about XRAY.FM forever. So imagine how Jeff Hylton Simmons feels: He's been working to get the free-form, community-centered radio station off the ground for the last seven years. When I spoke to him back in June, when he and the Cascade Educational Broadcast Service were in the midst of their XRAY Fest fundraiser-cum-awareness builder, the station was scheduled for a September soft launch. That date passed—apparently, the fall government shutdown interrupted the construction of their transmitter—but the finish line Simmons appeared to be approaching months ago is still in sight.

And so, to Kickstarter we go!

You can get the full details of the campaign here, but the aim is to hit at least $40,000, which will get the station on the air. An extra $15,000 will boost XRAY's online bandwidth and allow for improved placement of a second transmitter, as well as the creation of a phone app.